Conscience Clause

It appears the Obama administration is ready to overturn the Bush administration's rather vague rules regarding "conscience clauses" for medical personnel, which could deny women not only abortion referrals, but also referrals for contraception. Personnel can deny rape victims such services.

Although

our dictator will be mercifully out of D.C. in a few weeks, that hasn't stopped him and his administration to continue to try and put through extreme measures, including expanding the so-called "conscience clauses" to many other medical procedures and services apart from abortion.

Well screw that.

So-Called "Conscience Clauses"

have been on the books for more than 30 years with regard to abortion, but now the Bush administration wants to expand it to include "other procedures" such as, I suppose, contraceptives.

And it could go even further than that:

Many circumstances unrelated to reproductive health could also fall under the umbrella of “other medical procedures.” Could physicians object to helping patients whose sexual orientation they find objectionable? Could a receptionist refuse to book an appointment for an H.I.V. test? What about an emergency room doctor who wishes to deny emergency contraception to a rape victim? Or a pharmacist who prefers not to refill a birth control prescription?

The Bush administration argues that the rule is designed to protect a provider’s conscience. But where are the protections for patients?

I can just see H.I.V. patients being denied care because of somebody's bigotry. I would say something like this would violate ADA, but who knows?

But I suppose contraception is the real target. There is a segment of the population which cannot accept the fact women do have lives in addition to or other than traditional family life.

Miscellaneous News

The Bush administration not only tries to find another way to get around Roe v. Wade by trying to undercut abortion services using the "conscience clause" excuse, it also wants adds "contraceptive services" to the mix.

This is just a sneaky way to withhold money to hospitals by using some kind "discrimination" ruse and chip away at reproductive rights for women.

It also tells us what the "pro-life" outfits are really up to, and that's to withhold ALL birth control from women because they believe women aren't good for anything except getting married and having babies, a belief that dies hard in this culture:

Mary Jane Gallagher, president of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, which represents providers, said, “The proposed definition of abortion is so broad that it would cover many types of birth control, including oral contraceptives and emergency contraception.”

“We worry that under the proposal, contraceptive services would become less available to low-income and uninsured women,” Ms. Gallagher said.

That's the aim of the proposal: Chip away at women's reproductive rights by first going after the most vulnerable.

"Conscience clause" nonsense laws are already legal, but they have to do with doctors and other medical personnel who cannot be required to perform abortions. But those of us who have followed the abortion wars for the past 40 years knew this was coming. First abortion, then contraception.

Reproductive rights are absolutely essential for women to have any kind of equality in this society.

(HT: Blue Lyon)
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